X-Men #27

Review/plot:
In this issue, we lose Infectia but gain Threnody. In my opinion that's a wash, but Threnody winds up having a lot of appearances because she will figure into X-Man's series.

Threnody is a homeless person that has been living on the streets of Los Angeles for a few weeks. A local gave her that name because she was always "cryin' on about somethin' or other". Her clothing probably should have made this clear, but it turns out that she is a mutant.

Iceman and the Beast are in LA because Infectia is dying from the Legacy Virus, and she's called her old foes for help. But it's too late for help. Rogue has come along as well.

A doctor calling himself Nathan Milbury looks in on Infectia.

This will turn out to be Mr. Sinister. "Milbury" was the same name Sinister used when hiring Arcade to target Adam X in X-Force #30 (as Michael points out in the comments there) and it was also the name he used when posing as a friend of Cyclops' grandparents in X-Men #22.

Milbury lectures the X-Men about calling the virus the "Legacy" virus.

He then mentions that Infectia was looking for a cure with a bioresearcher named Gordon Lefferts, and then leaves. The X-Men figure out that he wasn't what he seemed to be when a nurse comes in to perform the same procedure that Milbury was doing. So they go to track down Lefferts, hoping it will lead them to "Milbury". Meanwhile, Mr. Sinister locates Threnody and recruits her, offering to help her use her powers for the greater good.

The X-Men then catch up with Mr. Sinister and have a kind of philosophical debate with them. What could have been a measured highlighting of differences is ruined by some pointless fighting.

I mean, Rogue's punch looks cool, but the X-Men know they can't really hurt Sinister. And it would actually work better if the X-Men talked it out and realized that they can't help Threnody so they have to let Sinister take her. Which is the conclusion they come to, but only after a lot of senseless punching and screaming.

Weird set of inset frames in that scan above. Like, yes Richard Bennet, you can do stuff like that. But usually it's to call out something important in the panel, not just as superfluous decoration.

Also, it's kind of weird for the X-Men to come to this conclusion anyway. I mean, Professor Xavier is pretty Machiavellian already. Anything more than that and you would think the X-Men wouldn't approve.

It's said that Threnody's powers activate when she's near someone with the Legacy Virus. Since her powers go off again after they get out of range of Infectia, the X-Men wonder who else has the virus, but Mr. Sinister won't say.

In a subplot with Psylocke, we're reminded that Revanche is also still suffering from the Legacy Virus.

Comments

Is Beast a dentist also and giving Mr. Sinister a check up?

Posted by:
davidbanes |
March 30, 2017 4:52 PM

This reminds me that one of the other problems with the legacy virus (besides the ones mentioned in other entries) is that it was hard to figure out what it actually DOES to a person or what its symptoms are (it's very inconsistent.) For instance Revanche has Deadpool-esque boils and lesions on her body (which of course, aren't consistently rendered in various apperances.) In some cases the disease is suppose to affect you by causing power incontinence. Other times it's just generic "koff koff" noises.

We never did get an explanation as to why Threnody flared up since none of the characters present- Hank, Bobby, Rogue, Sinister- showed any signs of the virus before it was cured.

Posted by:
Michael |
March 30, 2017 8:21 PM

Jon - from the wiki entry on the Legacy Virus -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_Virus
"Legacy-2 was much closer to Stryfe's original template and more in tune to his desire to stir a species war between humans and mutants. Its attacks were selective, working only on the X-factor genes. The net result was that a victim would eventually lose control of his superhuman powers. In addition to developing at a far slower rate than Legacy-1, victims of Legacy-2 developed skin lesions, fever, cough and overall weakness (symptoms displayed by the telepathic X-Man Revanche). The slow nature of Legacy-2 is why St. John "Pyro" Allerdyce survived for years following his initial infection."

Michael - Also on the same page -
"Infection list
Mister Sinister - Immortal. May have been infected.[citation needed] Though if so, his own healing factor must have greatly slowed its progression[citation needed], nevertheless saved when Colossus sacrificed himself to release the cure.

Posted by:
clyde |
March 30, 2017 8:49 PM

Yeah, I always assumed Sinister himself was meant to be the other infected character. He was present when Lefferts opened the canister that unleashed the virus, after all.

Sinister will turn out not to be a mutant, though the revelation comes after Nicieza has left the x-books (or is on the way out), so Nicieza may have intended him to be a mutant and infected with the mutants-targeting virus.

This is the first time we see Sinister go liquid, I believe, although we've seen him survive having a hole blown through his head during X-Cutioner's Song, and he seemed to be shapeshifting in PAD's X-Factor. We also don't see Sinny using mind control or TK-like powers anymore, which was what he could do in the Claremont days (plus physical invulnerability rather than malleability). So Sinister's powers are as much a mess as his backstory and motivations at this point. I hated this at the time (still do).

Posted by:
Walter Lawson |
March 30, 2017 11:16 PM

Sinister uses some kind of telepathy against Nate Grey during the Onslaught X-Force/X-Man issues. Also in the post-Schism Uncanny volume, I think.

Posted by:
Dave |
April 2, 2017 4:30 PM

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